India A squad for red-ball series against England Lions announced, Abhimanyu Easwaran to lead star-studded group

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BCCI's senior men’s selection committee headed by chairman Ajit Agarkar announced a 13-man squad India A squad for a red-ball home series against England Lions on Saturday, January 6.

A total of three multi-day matches will be played between India A and England Lions. The squad for the 2-day warm-up fixture and the first multi-day match has been announced.

The warm-up match will be held at the Narendra Modi Stadium Ground B in Ahmedabad. India A vs England Lions first multi-day match will be held from January 17 to 20 at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Abhimanyu Easwaran, who was recently named as Ishan Kishan's replacement in the just-concluded Test series against South Africa, will be seen leading the side. The likes of Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel and KS Bharat have been named in the squad.

Pacers Navdeep Saini, Tushar Deshpande, Vidwath Kaverappa and Akash Deep have also found places. Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar and Pulkit Narang will lead the charge in the spin department.

The opportunity is massive for the likes of Rajat Patidar, Sai Sudharsan and Sarfaraz Khan as the Indian Test team is looking for next crops of India Test batters. Patidar and Sarfaraz can place their bets in the middle-order.

A couple of pacers can also get opportunity in the upcoming 5-Test series against England starting January 25. Workload management of pacers has become important considering the busy cricketing calendars, and the selectors would have their eyes on pacers who can act as backups to the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami. Notably, Shami missed the Test series against South Africa, and there is still no clarity over his availability for the England Tests.

India A Squad vs England Lions: Abhimanyu Easwaran (Captain), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, KS Bharat (WK), Manav Suthar, Pulkit Narang, Navdeep Saini, Tushar Deshpande, Vidwath Kaverappa, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Akash Deep